There are a few K-dramas I have viewed that were quite chill. I was into Kong Hyo-jin (she prefers it spelled with a K) for a while after I watched and re-watched It’s Ok, That’s Love. So I went through the gamut of her work, Don’t Dare to Dream, Producers, Master’s Sun and Greatest Love. She does a lot of romcoms, they’re quite light. Something to wallow into in times when you want to de-stress. KHJ was quite stylish when she dropped by London as seen in her instagram two years ago. Then she unfollowed Park Shin-hye on her insta (while Memories of the Alhambra was still on air or right after?) and I lost interest in her dramas including my constant rewatch of It’s Ok, That’s Love (some good writing therer from Noh Hee Kyung). But I still follow her on that social media platform, I just do not take a peek at her account anymore nor watch her latest series on Netflix.
Then there is the hardworking Jang Nara in the remake of Fated to Love You/You are my Destiny and One More Happy Ending, they are very enjoyable dramas. She has a series every single year, so there are loads of choices, it depends on the genre and story. I’ve seen Seo Hyun-jin in Temperature of Love. It’s good, although I haven’t done any rewatch in full It’s all about gourmet cooking and scriptwriting but the break- up in the middle ( or is it near the end?) to keep the story going, is a breaking ball.
As you can see, I’m from the school of si Nura, si Velma; Maricel, Sharon, etc., who doesn’t care much or swoon after male leads. Stan is the operative word these days (I didn’t hear this word when I was writing for the school paper). So I stan the nominees for the Best Actress award, as in the Filipino penchant for their movie aueens — from Amalia to Judy Ann. I’m into that fandom. In celluloid, smart tv or smartphone, I want to watch empowered women as central characters or characters portrayed by actresses with a whole lot of charisma.
But in Kdrama or in life, men usually gets the top-billing. Women are just there for decoration. I couldn’t say It shouldn’t be like that because for some, drooling over Lee Min-ho or Lee Jong Suk is their alternate reality. Their escape from the dreariness of life. Or these days, their escape from the dreariness and hardship of a pandemic.
